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Rising French tennis star Diane Parry couldn't hide her happiness after stunning defending French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round at Roland Garros. Krejcikova, seeded at No. 2, appeared to be cruising toward a comfortable straight-set win as she was 6-1 2-0 up on Parry.
Down by a set and a break, Parry started playing much better and claimed a 1-6 6-2 6-3 win over Krejcikova. "I'm the happiest right now. It was a dream for me to play and win this court packed by the French crowd," Parry said, per Tennis Majors.
"I've more or less tried to overplay at the beginning. Little by little, I found a way to play my game, relaxed, nothing to lose. It's never easy on this kind of court, you want it so much."
Parry (who've just beaten Krejcikova) : "I'm the happiest right now.
It was a dream for me to play and win this court packed by the French crowd." #RolandGarros — Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) May 23, 2022
Parry : "I've more or less tried to overplay at the beginning. Little by little, I found a way to play my game, relaxed, nothing to lose.
It's never easy on this kind of court, you want it so much." #RolandGarros — Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) May 23, 2022
Parry recovered from a slow start to upset Krejcikova
Parry was feeling the pressure early on and Krejcikova took the advantage of it as she claimed back-to-back breaks to open an early 4-0 lead.
Parry got one break back in the fifth game to reduce the deficit to 4-1 but Krejcikova earned her third break of the match in the sixth game to open a 5-1 lead. In the seventh game, Krejcikova served out for the first set.
After winning the first set, Krejcikova started the second set with an early break and was up 2-0 on Parry. Just when it seemed that Parry was done, she responded in a stunning style as she claimed three consecutive breaks to win six games in a row and send the match into a decider.
After losing the second set, Krejcikova bounced back at the start of the third set as she took an early 2-0 lead. However, falling down by an early break didn't impact Parry, who broke Krejcikova in the fourth and eighth games to overturn the deficit and complete a comeback win.
Krejcikova was playing her first tournament in three months and Parry took the advantage of the Czech still not being at her best.